Fidgeting Can Counter The Bad Health Effects Of Sitting For Long, Study

Your great aunt may not like it, but your body does! If you fidget continuously in your chair, you can offset the health damage associated with long sitting hours, according to HNGN.

Earlier, studies showed that sitting for long tends to boost the risks of cancer risk, kidney disease and other chronic illnesses. Some simple exercises can counter them, such as walking an extra two minutes per hour or just getting up and walking around for five minutes after sitting for long hours.

But what if you don't want to do it? What if you are not allowed? Then just fidget, and you will see that you are able to manage your health better.

Janet Cade, lead study author and professor from the University of Leeds in England along with her team studied information from almost 13,000 women between 37 and 78 years between 1999 and 2002. When they examined the average sitting time as well as overall fidgeting time of the participants, they also checked out the "physical activity, diet, smoking status, and alcohol consumption."

The study over 12 years revealed that fidgeting can bring down the risk of dying from different diseases by 30 percent for women who sit for at least seven hours per day, compared to others who don't. Study shows that some people sit for almost 15 hours without fidgeting.

"Our results support the suggestion that it's best to avoid sitting still for long periods of time, and even fidgeting may offer enough of a break to make a difference," Dr Gareth Hagger-Johnson from UCL, who conducted the data analysis, said in a press release.

More study needs to be conducted. "While further research is needed, the findings raise questions about whether the negative associations with fidgeting, such as rudeness or lack of concentration, should persist if such simple movements are beneficial for our health," Cade added.

The study was published in the Sept. 23 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.